This is going to be a dual purposed post. We’re going to be exploring eggs and the different birds we have who lay eggs as well as their contribution to healthy balanced meal. In light of recent news spreading on social media about all this different food (not just eggs) being recalled due to e. coli or salmonella, I felt there was a need to explore how this happens and why we’re seeing several recalls from pretty large distributors of this food.
Let’s start off light. Eggs are generally fantastic. Different eggs have different nutritional values and although all of the eggs we sell are edible, I do use them for other purposes.
We’re going to go over chicken, duck, and goose eggs.
Pictured above are the various types of chicken eggs we use and sell from our farm. I love gathering them because they’re just so pleasing to the eye. Aren’t they gorgeous? I cannot get over just looking at them. When I have to cook several I also use as varied colors as possible. It makes no difference in taste. I just can’t help it. I use chicken eggs very frequently. If I am cooking eggs just to eat, this is the egg I use because I am a rare breed of person who cannot handle duck or goose eggs. We’ll go more into that later though. One of my favorite quick meals to do at home is omeletts. We have eggs from our chickens, often homemade cheese, and fresh produce from our garden. So it’s all very quick, delicious, and healthy.
Ducks are fun creatures. We have mostly Pekin and we have two types of layer personalities. We have the “leave them where they drop” layers and the “I might want to be a mother some day, but I’m unsure” layers. Duck eggs that are isolated and/or in weird out in the open areas are the “leave them where they drop.” The picture above is the “kinda-sorta-maybe-wannabe-mama.” She does what nature says she should do. She gathers the eggs (in this case, a perfect circle) and she gets the eggs dirty to try to blend in with the environment. This is an important task because it allows the eggs to stay camouflaged when the duck leaves to eat, drink, and wash. We have only ever had one broody duck. All of my others, even after beginning what looks like a nest, quit pretty quickly. In fact, my one broody girl isn’t even a Pekin. She is an Appleyard mix. Duck eggs have more nutritional value than chicken eggs. This is how they contrast in daily value percentages (keep in mind, there is no way this can be EXACT because eggs are created in different sizes and sometimes shapes):
| Chicken Egg | Duck Egg | |
| Iron (mg) | .9 (5%) | 2.7 (15%) |
| Phosphorous (mg) | 95.5 (10%) | 154 (15%) |
| Zinc (mg) | .6 (4%) | 1 (7%) |
| Selenium (mcg) | 15.8 (23%) | 25.5 (36%) |
| Vitamin A (IU) | 244 (5%) | 472 (9%) |
| Vitamin E (mg) | .5 (2%) | .9 (5%) |
| Thiamin/Vitamin B1 (mg) | .02 (2%) | .1 (7%) |
| Riboflavin/Vitamin B2 (mg) | .2 (14%) | .3 (17%) |
| Vitamin B6 (mg) | .1 (4%) | .2 (9%) |
| Folate/Vitamin B9 (mcg) | 23.5 (6%) | 56 (14%) |
| Vitamin B12 (mcg) | .6 (11%) | 3.8 (63%) |
| Pantothenic Acid/Vitamin B5 (mg) | .7 (7%) | 1.3 (13%) |
| Choline (mg)* | 126 | 184 |
| Total Omega-3s (mg)* | 37 | 71.4 |
| Total Protein (grams)* | 6.28 | 8.97 |
*No current daily value percentage.
Click here to view the nutritional value chart this is adapted from and read further on.
Duck eggs are also great for baking cake and bread items. The extra fat in the yolk and extra protein in the whites help create a fluffier baked good.
Most people who have difficulty consuming chicken eggs can enjoy duck eggs with no issues.
People who are allergic to chicken eggs can sometimes consume duck eggs without problems. This can also be true the other way around. My family loves duck eggs. They are richer and pack more nutrients than chicken eggs. I love them, and although I can and do bake with them, I cannot eat just duck eggs. Within 30 minutes I am severely ill and trying to keep myself hydrated, with no success–if you catch my meaning. It’s very sad.
Goose eggs! These are so cool! They’re huge! They’re around 266 calories per egg, with almost 20 g of protein. And you generally only need one for an omlette.
Now onto a serious topic. April has been hell on recalled food items, including eggs.
We’ve seen it on social media and other resources like the National Food Safety Foundation. The FDA posted details about the egg recall here.
Many people believe that they are less likely to get ill from a store-bought egg than buying from local farms or homesteads. The treatment factory farm eggs and hens is not how we handle our eggs and hens, and with several good reasons.
Just to sum up this article, chicken fecal matter is a huge cause for concern. Birds kept in cages all day, with nowhere to go, end up crapping where they lay. Without proper attention, eggs can be contaminated. Egg shells are porous, but do have a protective bloom. However, if it’s sitting in crap all day, the ammonia will eat through it.
People buy “free range” eggs thinking they’re getting better eggs, but they’re really not. “Free range” is not the same as “pasture raised.” Free range birds have outside access to food and water, but it’s still a relatively small enclosure, shared with hens.
Pasture raised eggs the chickens are actually out and about. We are pasture raised. The hens have shelter, and they use it at night or to lay eggs, but they have free access. We don’t actually lock them up in their enclosures, unless there’s a hurricane coming. They are outside. Although they’re fed and given water, they have access to plants, bugs, small reptiles and amphibians, fish (the ducks and geese hunt and eat these), and leftover produce. They get exercise and have opportunities to socialize with their friends (yes, they have their own groups they hang out with).
Then there’s the cleaning process these industrialized farms use. An egg that has not been sitting in shit all day and has not been washed can stay on the counter for a couple of weeks (they never last that long here–they’re too yummy). They don’t need to be kept cool unless you need to keep them for long-term or you wash that protective bloom off. Factory farms use chemicals, such as chlorine, to “clean” the eggs. This also means, since the shell is porous, that the chemicals then enter the egg as well. During the harsh cleaning process, if the eggs are not totally dry in the end, bacteria thrives and can penetrate the shell as well because the bloom is gone.
We have had an increase of consumers seeking us out to purchase eggs after getting sick from store bough eggs recently. Truth is, most people handle salmonella well if they’re generally healthy. They’ll fall very ill, but most recover. Anyone with compromised immune systems, or the elderly and young, are most affected and can die. Even without salmonella, long-term exposure to the chemicals used in cleaning the eggs from factory farms is harmful. And I cannot imagine any of my birds, even the ones raised for meat, being kept in such harsh and stressful conditions. It’s understood that these birds have a clear purpose for humans, but it does not mean that their lives should be that dreadful. Whether they’re living for eight weeks or five years, it’s unacceptable.
We’re happy to see an increase in others doing their own research and making their own decisions in purchasing food. Knowing where your food comes from is so important. Raising happy and healthy animals, even if it’s just for food, matters.
Want to learn more about the animals we have on the farm? Click out here.
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Another great post. Thank you for sharing…I learned a lot from this one. I have recently become much more fond of farm fresh eggs, but I never knew how different these eggs (and the processes surrounding them) were from store bought. I definitely always wondered why the farm eggs had such wonderful variations in size and color v. the store bought ones, and now I know why!
Thanks! Our last week at market, we had a lot of people looking for eggs and asking about how ours are different from the ones recalled. So it just seemed like something to address. There have been quite a few recalls in food lately. Various leafy greens have had horrible e. coli contaminations too.